Nights of Vodka and Wandering
In which Caroline doesn't go to the ball, but Klaus finds her anyway.
I know I said this was a drabble, but it's pretty long – like over 9000 words, so it probably classifies more of a oneshot than a drabble. This is a 3X14 AU where Caroline doesn't go to the Mikaelson Ball as Klaus' date. This is pretty much where a lot started for Klaus and Caroline, so I thought I'd explore how I think it would have gone if things went a bit a differently that night. Don't worry, I'm sure our two favourite blondes will still find each other by the end of the night and prove that Klaroline is ultimate and would happen no matter the circumstance. I just wanted to thank Anastasia Dreams for looking over this for me and actually pushing me to finish this drabble. Otherwise, I probably would've given up ages ago.
Anyway, enjoy!
Caroline's hands were shoved into her pockets as she shuffled, slowly, to the looming doorstep. The bag hanging from her shoulder smacked against her thigh, irritatingly, with every step she took. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath, steeling herself, and marched up to the doorstep. She shifted her weight and placed the large package in one arm, while raising her other arm to knock. Her hand shook with nervousness and fear, as she raised it to give three, sharp raps against the ornate wooden door. Her heart thumped, frantically, in her chest, betraying the fear that slid like grease through her veins, knowing that her erratic heartbeat would be a tell-tale giveaway to the indifference she was aiming for.
Moments passed and she remained on the doorstep, taking quick, deep breaths to calm her frayed nerves. She stilled, making sure to not even take a breath, when she heard the sound of footsteps from behind the door. She schooled her face into what she hoped was a wicked poker face – her Miss Mystic Falls, Queen Bitch, I'm-better-than-all-of-you eyes and smile – the one that had freshman scurrying away from her, looking for the nearest refuge.
The door swung open with a sharp wrench and a man stood in the doorway – although, not the man she was looking for. This man, who didn't look too much older than her, was slightly taller than her small build, with dark, windswept hair, a lean, athletic body, devilish dark-brown eyes and a mischievous smirk on his delightful lips. Her heart quivered just the slightest bit in her ribcage and she cursed her body's reaction to an attractive man. His body language immediately told her that he was very much aware of just how handsome he was. She resisted the urge to shake her head to free herself of those traitorous, meaningless thoughts.
"Well, hello, darling." The man's smile turned roguish. "Now, you have to be the prettiest package I have ever received. Someone is certainly incredibly thoughtful to gift you to me. And you've even brought another gift with you." He waggled his eyebrows. "Now, what can I do for you?" He asked, lowly, his eyes smouldering, his intentions clear.
Caroline raised an eyebrow and a noise of disgust left her mouth. "Ew, gross. Dial the perviness back, creep," she bit out, snorting, her hands on her hips, defiantly. "Is your brother at home?" She asked, wearily.
The man's smile grew wider. "I have many brothers, darling. You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that," he said, Caroline noticing the bemused incredulity in his eyes that told her he found her sass amusing and slightly bewitching, having never met a woman who was so defiant in the face of a being so much powerful than her, with the ability to kill her with a single, harsh snap of his hand.
"Well, then, darling," she mocked, narrowing her eyes at his stupid, smug face. "Is Klaus at home?" She asked, her voice tinged with sweetness and acid.
Suddenly, the man was shoved out of her sight and Klaus appeared in the doorway, his eyes annoyed at the man at his side.
"Oh, go back to staring at yourself, Kol, and leave Caroline be," Klaus bit out, warningly.
Kol – although, she would always, in her mind, now refer to him as 'pervy Mikaelson brother with no respect for boundaries' – rolled his eyes, obviously accustomed to his brother's temperament, and winked at her, making her scoff, before striding away, casually.
Klaus turned a boyish grin, full dimples blaring, to her. "What can I do for you, Caroline, love?" He asked, casually. "I assume you received my invitation? And the dress, obviously?" His eyes glinted, as they swept a hot trail across her body with a look that made her fidget slightly at his unabashed, unashamed interest.
Finally, his eyes landed on the unopened, white box in her arms.
Caroline shifted, uncomfortably, her arms slightly aching from the continued hold over the box. "Yeah, I did get the invitation," she said, formally. "And the dress, obviously." She raised the box in her arms slightly, to draw attention to it.
"Why don't you come inside, love?" Klaus offered. "It's unbecoming to hold a conversation with a beautiful woman on the doorstep." He stepped aside, allowing her entrance into his home.
Caroline almost grimaced at his last comment – he really needs to stop with all the flirting, she thought, wryly – and fought with herself on whether to go inside or not. But, finally, she relented, reassuring herself with the thought that she would finally be able to put the big box down somewhere and rest her arms before they fell off.
"Fine," she said, shortly, and stepped over the threshold.
The house was wide and spacey, the rooms lit up with a strange darkness that made her think that the windows had been shut and the lights turned off for decades rather than the few weeks the house had been under renovation from one of the old Founders' Estates that littered the edge of Mystic Falls. Most of them had been knocked down in an attempt to make room for the residential area, but a few had remained, such as the Salvatore Boarding House and the one she was currently standing in. If her knowledge of Mystic Falls and her own family history was correct – and it should be, considering how much cramming she had done before the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, the land – and she supposed house as well – she was standing on had belonged to the Forbes family decades ago until her ancestors had been unable to pay the mortgage payments on it due to financial troubles after the Depression and the bank had repossessed it gleefully.
Her grandmother spoke of this with resentment until the day she died.
It was strange – to stand on her own soil and know it belonged to someone else. Especially since it now belonged to the one man who had caused so much pain and heartache to the people she cared about and herself.
Righteous fury crawled into her veins and she had the vicious urge to call him out on all of the injustice he happily dealt to them.
But she was quick to shake it off when many surprised eyes turned onto her presence in the less-than-warm house.
The Mikaelson siblings and Esther stared at Caroline, speculatively, all of them wondering what sort of girl she was to bravely enter the home of six people who could kill her with the slightest breath and show no fear or trepidation whatsoever. They had to admit that the girl, unprotected and powerless as she was, was either very brave or very stupid to come into the lion's den. She was pretty, none of them could deny it – although Rebekah had to admit she gave it her best go. She had the blonde curls and the blue-green eyes of a sweet Southern belle, but with the way Klaus' eyes watched her intently, Rebekah and Elijah – the ones who had spent the most time with Klaus – knew there was something else about this baby vampire that had enchanted the man who had remained steadfast that love and any other accompanying feelings were for fools and he would never partake in what he saw as a weakness.
But now they all noticed the way Klaus' gaze never seemed to stray from Caroline for longer than a moment, as if the world turned and she were the axis, eyes dancing atevery stray reluctant smile she graced him with – his muscles coiled and shifted, his body mirroring even the slightest hitch of her breath. It was this that forced all of them – including Kol, who was still sceptical as to the idea that his brother had anything remotely resembling emotions – to reconsider their conclusion that Caroline had merely 'enchanted' their wilful and ruthless brother/son.
Of course, this didn't mean that Klaus was aware that Caroline already had parts of him wrapped around her finger. Knowing their oblivious-when-it-came-to-certain-things brother, he was still thinking he had the upper hand in this situation.
This wasn't the first time all of them had seen him all twisted around because of a woman. Tatia had been the culprit a thousand years ago and they had witnessed him tumble over himself in awe of her beauty, but Rebekah had never seen him show attention to any other facet of the first doppelganger's personality. He had been led around by a leash around his neck by the manipulative girl that Rebekah still cursed to hell and back today, his infatuation with her doe-eyes, brunette waves and seemingly sweet smile enough for him to even ignore the fact that she was so blatantly spreading her legs for his elder brother at the same time she was batting her eyelashes at him. Rebekah still thanked any higher power that Klaus had not felt the same infatuation her other foolish brother did when it came to the succeeding doppelgangers, only choosing to associate with the manipulative chits out of sheer advantage of what they could offer him.
But Caroline was no Tatia. There was so much more than the beauty of this young vampire that had attracted Klaus' attention. Elijah could see it in his normally unfeeling eyes, the way they had softened in warmth when they first fell upon her, how quickly he had rushed to her defence when Kol had badgered and flirted with her on the doorstep.
"Oh, no! What is she doing here?" Rebekah groaned, shooting Caroline a seething look.
Caroline snorted. "Excuse you. You really think I'd be willingly sharing airspace, let alone a room, with you, Glenn Close?" She spat, viciously.
Both Klaus and Elijah chuckled under her breaths, understanding her pop-culture reference, an action that their younger sister was none too happy about.
"What?" Rebekah's head swivelled to look at her brothers. "What did she say?" She snapped.
Elijah waved her off. "I wouldn't worry if I were you, Rebekah. Miss Forbes merely referenced a movie that was released in 1987 and she finds that some of your actions closely resemble that of the antagonist's in that particular movie. Once you watch it, you will-" He pursed his lips, a wary look appearing in his eyes at his sudden remembrance of Rebekah's temperament. "On second thought, perhaps you shouldn't watch it," he said, quickly, attempting to divert disaster between the two high-strung blonde women.
Kol grinned. "This movie pokes fun at our dearest Rebekah? Now I simply must watch it." He smirked, leaning back on the sofa, his hands behind his head and his leg thrown over the other.
Rebekah scowled at her teasing brother and jumped to her feet, pointing at Caroline accusingly. "Get your trollop out of here, Nik, before I start ripping the skin off her bones," she said, advancing on the other girl.
"Hey, watch it, Rosalie," Caroline snapped, taking a twisted sense of enjoyment in the way that Rebekah's face contorted with confusion at her myriad of pop-culture references that she wasn't able to get her head around. "I didn't come here to have a bitch fight with you," she said, snidely. "I came to talk to your brother."
"I'm right here, darling. Whenever and wherever you want me," Kol said, lowly, his eyes smouldering as they trailed over her body.
"Oh, shut up." Caroline rolled her eyes. She turned to Klaus. "Is there somewhere we can talk? Privately?" She asked, pointedly, nudging her head towards his siblings.
Klaus smiled. "Of course, love." He looked at his siblings. "Go away." He told his family, impatiently, gesturing towards them with a flick of his hand to move out of the room, so that he and Caroline could have their privacy.
Rebekah glared at Klaus, defiantly, before flouncing off with a flip of her sleek, blonde locks, suitably chastised by his dark, warning glare. Kol smirked, wagging his eyebrows at his brother and giving one last lascivious, lewd wink to Caroline that left her blushing to the roots of her hair and glowering furiously at him and Klaus swearing swift retribution in a low growl. Pleased at the reaction he provoked, Kol spun on his feet and strode out of the room in a swagger. Finn, Elijah and Esther simply regarded Klaus and Caroline with thinly veiled interest, Elijah sending a Klaus a look as if he had never seen him prior to this, before the three of them walked away from the strange couple as well.
Caroline took a deep breath, some of her nervousness flitting away at the reassurance that it was only she and Klaus in the room, her heartbeat slowing to a comfortable rhythm. Of course, it didn't escape her knowledge that she was currently alone with the man who had exploited the sire bond with his hybrids to force her boyfriend into giving her a lethal werewolf bite on her birthday in order to prove to Stefan who was really in power in their little struggle – maybe I need to rethink my strategy of sending the other members of the Addams family out of the room; I probably would've been safer if they were here, she thought, wryly.
"Your brother is so freaking creepy." Caroline muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, darling, you and I both know our attraction isn't as unrequited as you make it out to be," Kol joked from somewhere far off in the large manor house, his voice echoing through the empty, dimly lit rooms.
"Oh, stop thinking that you're some great prize for all the women in the world, Kol!" Rebekah shouted from upstairs.
"Enough!" Klaus roared, immediately silencing any other outbursts from his impulsive younger siblings. "Would you all mind keeping your mouths shut for a little while longer while we talk? I know it's outside all of your comfort zones, but please try and give us some privacy?" He scowled, his teeth snapping together.
Klaus shot the ceiling a dark glance, looking as though he was communicating his annoyance with his brother mentally, before looking at Caroline, his eyes suddenly soft. "I apologise for Kol and his behaviour. Unfortunately, it has been a long time since he has seen a woman as beautiful as you and he's always had a bit of a mouth around pretty girls. Don't take it too seriously," he said, gently, his voice smooth and soothing.
Caroline rolled her eyes, slightly bemused by all the family drama. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. You're the guy who shoves his siblings into boxes when they try to screw you over," she muttered to herself.
Klaus cocked his head, at a loss for words at her outward defiance, despite having seen her on her deathbed by his hands just a few days prior. He couldn't help the slow smile that curved onto his mouth, as his eyes raked over the way her chin tipped up, boldly, her eyes cooled and her hand stood poised on the curve of her hip.
Her rebellion was certainly enthralling. But he wasn't willing to explore the reason behind the way his heartbeat suddenly jumped into his throat at the slightest glance from her in great detail.
"Now, what is it that I can do for you, love?" Klaus asked, easily.
"Don't call me 'love'," Caroline said, sharply, determined to draw the line between them.
Klaus shrugged. "Alright then, Caroline," he stressed. "What can I do for you?" He asked, again.
Caroline pursed her lips, shoving the large white box in her hands at him, surprising him with the way it accidentally – she swore it was an accident – smacked into his chest.
"I got your invitation and the dress on my doorstep this morning. But I'm sorry, I don't think I can make it tonight," Caroline said, earnestly, her eyes losing some of their hardness. "I appreciate the invitation, but I'm not really in a frame of mind to party the night way," she said, slowly.
Klaus shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Ah, yes." He cleared his throat. His eyes softened as they raked over her face, noting the way dark circles brimmed around her eyelids and her lips turned down at the corners, no matter how bright a smile she tried to pull to her face. "I heard about your father, Caroline. My condolences," he said, lowly. "I never had a good relationship with my father, but yours must have meant a great deal to you, otherwise you wouldn't be grieving so heavily. I am very sorry for your loss."
Caroline almost reeled back in shock at his words, reading the sincerity in them. Warmth slowly began to spread along her ribs, settling in her heart and making her eyes widen with suppressed emotion. Her heartbeat quickened in her ribcage as she looked at him differently for the first time. She had thought the invitation was merely a clever ruse. He hadn't been able to achieve his objective the night he had ordered Tyler to bite her, so he was using this ball as a chance to get under Tyler's skin by inviting her. That was the thought she had used to reassure herself on her way over to the manor. But staring at him now, she couldn't see a speck of dishonesty in his gaze. His eyes were warm and gentle and earnest and his mouth curved down at the corners in sympathy.
Everything faded into the background, time came to a standstill and it was just the two of them standing there in his empty living room. The ache in her arms waned and all she could hear was the telltale patter of her heartbeat giving her away, and she swore she could almost hear the echo of his heart, drumming to the very same rhythm.
She couldn't help the way her mouth went dry and butterflies landed in her stomach. She had the sudden urge to reach up and touch his stubble with the tips of her fingers and stroke carefully, see if it would scrape her skin to the point where it sent sparks rushing up and down her spine. To graze his jawline with her mouth, her human teeth nipping at his skin, until that unavoidable boyish grin spread across his face and his dimples were revealed.
Excitement and curiosity saddled into her veins and her senses were engulfed with an emotion she couldn't even begin to decipher at that time.
She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut and willing those dangerous, lust-starved thoughts out of her head with every grind of her teeth.
I'm only thinking like that because I haven't had sex since Tyler left. It's just the hormones talking. I'm a healthy teenage girl and I need sex. And my reproductive organs are just reacting to the nearest hot guy. Not that he's hot. He's only hot in the way celebrities or male models are. There's no real feeling there. It's just like looking at a photo in a magazine. There's no way in hell I am in any way attracted to Klaus past a rudimentary physical attraction to good-looking guy.
There's just no way.
This was the man Elena had sworn up and down was the devil incarnate and she could see why that was from her friend's point of view. But why would the 'devil incarnate' go to such lengths only to make her collateral damage against her friends? She was nothing special. Her friends only needed her when they needed legwork done. Until then, she was usually kept in the dark, in favour of two older vampires that Elena only met a year ago, as opposed to her two best friends whom she knew since they were all in diapers. She couldn't be of that much use to him. Why go to so much trouble just to get her onto his side?
Caroline frowned, her mind unable to piece together the fragments of Klaus to form a position about him in any way. She didn't understand why she was so affected by the murderous Original Hybrid. The man was a mass murderer who tortured the people she cared about, but her body was reacting to him like she was some silly teenage girl standing in front of her first crush. Her palms were sweaty out of nervousness rather than fear, her head slightly woozy from the pleasant scent of his cologne, and she was vividly aware of just how dangerously attractive he was.
She cleared her throat and wet her dry mouth with her tongue.
"Look, don't get me wrong. I appreciate you inviting me, but considering my circumstances, I don't think it'd be right to go to a ball," Caroline said, slowly. "Maybe if it were a different time, but I'm just not really up to it right now. I'm really sorry, but thank you for the invitation."
Perfect Southern manners that had been bred into her since she was a little girl made their appearance, her eyes shining brightly with her sincerity.
"I just came here to return the dress," Caroline said, formally. "Since I wasn't going to be able to come tonight, I thought it was only fair that I return it to you."
"The dress was a gift, Caroline," Klaus said, lowly. "I want you to keep it."
Caroline shook her head. "It's too much, really. I wouldn't know what to do with it. And while we're on the subject of gifts…" Her hand rustled inside her bag for a moment, before drawing out a sleek, black velvet jewellery box that contained the expensive – but freaking gorgeous and something of a kind I'm never going to see again – bracelet he gifted her with for her birthday. "I can't accept this, either."
"Now, that I most certainly can't take back," Klaus said, sternly. "That was a birthday gift and an apology for the traumatic incident you experienced on your birthday, that I indirectly caused. Taking it back now would be in poor form. And it was never intended as a part of my gift to you for the ball, Caroline," he said, gently. "It was a gift on its own. Please don't ask me to take it back. I have no one else to give it to. I might as well just throw it into the rubbish."
Caroline looked at him, aghast. "But-but it's a diamond bracelet," she stammered, shocked.
Klaus shrugged. "It holds no value to me if you don't wear it. If you give it back to me, I'll just throw it out."
Caroline gritted her teeth. "That's blackmail," she growled.
Klaus smiled, smugly, raising an eyebrow. "I never said I played fair, sweetheart," he said, playfully.
"Fine," Caroline snapped, shoving the velvet box back into her bag. "But I'm not keeping the dress. I'll have no use for it. I don't plan on attending a debutante ball anytime soon," she said, snidely.
Klaus stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I can't take that back either."
Caroline scowled at him.
"I have no use for it," he said, quickly. "You and Rebekah, while similar in body shape, are not the same size and this isn't to her style. So, again, I would just have to throw it out," he sighed, his eyes glinting with mischief.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Caroline said, warningly. "You think if you keep threatening to throw these things out, you'll manage to make me keep them, right? Well, I'm onto you," she said, sharply.
Klaus shrugged. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. But I swear, there are no nefarious tones to my wheedling. I picked those two gifts especially for you. I truly would have no use for them if you simply gave them back to me. So, in the interest of someone getting some use out of them, keep them and wear them for some other event," he cajoled.
A sharp rush of annoyance swelled inside of Caroline.
"Fine!" She snapped, fed up with his brand of successful persuasion. "I'll take the stupid things back with me." She took a deep breath, waiting for the anger to dissolve before speaking again. "Again, thank you for the gifts and I'm sorry I can't honour your invitation," she said, reluctantly.
"It's alright, Caroline," Klaus said, soothingly, his blue eyes searing lines across her body that made her hitch in a sharp breath. "I understand why you are unable to attend tonight. Rest assured, I am not offended in any way. I may have a dysfunctional relationship with my family," he smiled, wryly, "But I am sure that a girl as kind and warm-hearted and compassionate as you has nothing except love for your family," he said, earnestly. "Take care of yourself. Grieve. I have nothing but belief that you are strong enough to get through this," he said, boldly.
Caroline's voice stuck in her throat at his encouraging, fortifying words. She couldn't help the heat that bled into her skin as a blush flitted across her cheeks, her lips quirking up at the corners. She felt emboldened by his words and his steadfast, reassuring glance. A renewed strength seethed in her mind, swearing to her that she was strong enough to endure and she should use her grief to show why she would remain unbroken. At that moment, a part of her softened for him and she etched his name under her skin in a reminder as to whom had inspired her. Gratitude and sudden affection for him, almost tangible, rolled off her in waves.
"Thank you," Caroline said, quietly. "I'm-I'm just gonna go. I've got some errands to run and I just thought I'd drop these things off and tell you I won't be able to make it tonight. Well, I've done that and you convinced me to keep these things, so I'll just leave then. Thank you again, Klaus."
Klaus tilted his head towards her. "Your welcome, Caroline," He said, lowly, his voice sending shivers down her spine. "I'll show you out, then."
Caroline's eyes widened. "No-no," she stammered, not eager to spend more time in his presence and have him dishevel her mind and emotions even more. "It's okay. I can show myself out."
"Nonsense." Klaus said, sternly. "What kind of host would I be if I didn't see you off?" He asked, pointedly, walking over her to her and motioning for her to walk ahead of him, his fingers poised on the small of her black, bleeding heat into her skin even through her clothes.
They walked in silence through the empty corridor, Caroline preferring not to say or do anything that would disturb the present state of affairs. When they reached the door, Caroline stepped out of Klaus' proximity and over the threshold, turning around to face him and she tucked a stray curl behind her ear, nervously.
"Anyway," she began, awkwardly. "Thank you for understanding… and you have a wonderful home, by the way. Well… see you around." She pursed her lips and turned on her feet, not waiting for his reply before she made her way down the driveway.
Caroline was a short way onto the driveway when she heard Klaus' voice from behind her.
"Caroline!" Caroline spun around, curiously.
Klaus' face was soft and concerned, something that sent dread and confusion pooling in her stomach. "Again, I am very sorry for your loss."
Caroline hitched in a breath, her voice catching in her throat out of surprise. She reared back in shock with the sincerity of the condolence from someone who was thought to be incapable of heartfelt, genuine emotions; someone whom her friends claimed over and over again was pure evil and Satan's disciple. Would Satan's disciple bother to invite her to a ball just in case she might dignify him with a dance, and, at her refusal of his invitation, graciously offer his condolences for a loss to a girl that by all accounts shouldn't be of any significance to him? Frankly, the whole idea made her head spin.
Not to mention her strange attraction to him – which she was most certainly not thinking about.
Caroline's shoulders straightened and she gave him a stiff nod, walking away from the looming mansion.
The stars are so pretty… and bright.
Caroline giggled to herself, as her eyes rolled around to stare at the empty park she had found herself in after sneaking into the back of the Grill like a ninja and stealing two bottles of vodka before anyone could see. The first bottle lay somewhere on the streets, tossed into a nearby bush, after she had drained it try. The second bottle was still clasped in her hands, still three-quarters full despite her best attempts at making its finale like its predecessor.
She lay on her back on the grass, vodka pressed against her chest protectively, as she stared up at the sky, her blonde hair brimming around her skull like a halo of sunlight against the darkness of the grass. She grimaced, fidgeting when the dampness of the grass seeped through her cotton dress and pressed against her back, making her skin crawl with discomfort. She shifted, trying to escape the slush that had layered underneath her, her nose scrunching up as she hissed. She huffed when she lifted herself up to an upright position, smoothing her hands down her back in an awkward twist to rid herself of the stray blades of grass that clung to her jacket, her hand skidding against the remnants of water, realising that her warm woollen cardigan had bunched up underneath her when she had slumped to the ground. She cursed under her breath and placed the bottle of vodka beside her and smoothed her cardigan, tucking it underneath her arse when she lay back down, snuggling into the warm it provided.
Her hand patted against the grass next to her, in search of her vodka bottle. Finally, it smacked against the glass and she pulled it back against her chest with a relieved sigh, opening the lid and taking a few swigs of it, grimacing at the bitterness that raced down her throat, but settling into the warmth that pooled into her stomach when the bitterness subsided. She wrapped her arms around the vodka and clutched it against her breast like she would a small child, even stroking the length of the bottle with her fingers.
Her eyes rolled up and a giddy smile curved on her lips when she stared up at the stars.
Her head swayed, deliriously, as she hummed to herself, her eyes drifting shut.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond-
She paused, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on their ends, her eyes narrowing as she heard footsteps fall on the ground behind her. The sluggish heartbeat of a vampire reaching her ears. She frowned to herself and twisted around, awkwardly, onto her stomach.
She tipped her head up, curiously, staring up at the figure, her eyes rolling back to the tip of her socket as she did so, clad in a neatly tailored tuxedo. Her brow furrowed and her eyes squinted through the darkness. She caught a flash of cornflower blue eyes, dishevelled dirty-blonde curls and pale, unmarked skin, and she huffed, exasperated.
"Oh, great," she groaned, her words slightly slurring. "It's you" she said, grimacing.
"Good evening, Caroline," Klaus said, charmingly, ignoring her disdain. He frowned down at her. "Why are you on the ground, love?"
"Oh, I'm having a tea party," Caroline said, sarcastically, the alcohol rushing through her bloodstream and emboldening her. "What does it look like I'm doing, genius? I'm getting drunk so I don't have to think about my dead father," she spat, more out of irritation at herself for being so weak that she had to resort to intoxicating herself instead of dealing with her grief in a healthy manner, than an annoyance at him for bothering her carefully constructed complacency.
She didn't know what it was about him, but he managed to set her off in all the right ways with his mere presence.
She couldn't see or think straight when he was there.
"Ah." Klaus nodded, his eyes turning gentle and sympathetic, which sent butterflies racing to her stomach.
Klaus had wandered the streets of Mystic Falls for the last half hour, after having left his manor home in a huff after the latest escalated drama between Kol and that quarterback his sister fancied currently. When he had heard stray giggles coming from the park, he had decided to investigate, wondering if he might catch a good late-night snack before going home. When he spotted blonde curls splayed on the grass and realised that the drunken giggles had been coming from one, Caroline Forbes, his interest had been piqued and he approached closer, involuntarily being pulled in the young blonde's direction.
"Well, don't you look nice," Caroline said, sarcastically, in an attempt to diffuse the suddenly emotional situation, taking another long swig from her bottle and wetting her mouth with vodka.
She looked up at him critically, noting the way his tailored suit seemed to cling to every sinew of his body, emphasising his broad shoulders and lean build and powerful muscles, the black material contrasting against his pale skin and making it glisten in the moonlight.
She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly going dry and heat pooling low in her stomach.
That's not the alcohol, is it?
Klaus smirked. "You know, your sarcasm can be very damaging to a man's ego, love," he said, pointedly.
"Don't call me 'love'," she said, sharply. "And I'm so very sorry I offended Your Majesty." She rolled her eyes.
Klaus' lips curved into a smile, covering his shock with a quirk of his lips. He had never been so stunned by a female in his thousand years on this Earth. He stood there, a thousand years of hybrid strength at his advantage, looming over her, and she simply stared up at him with barely-concealed defiance in her blue-green eyes, her lips set in a harsh line. Heat passed between them and he felt himself harden despite himself.
"Do you mind if I join you?" Klaus gestured to the patch of grass beside her.
Caroline's head lolled. "Why are you even here, Klaus?" Caroline's voice slurred, accusingly. "Shouldn't you be at home, enjoying your creepy Cinderella ball?"
"It was very tedious, so I decided to escape before yet another scheming, social-climber vampire could manage to strong-arm me into a dance," Klaus grinned.
Caroline couldn't help the smile that curved onto her mouth at his boyish smile, complete with dimples. Adrenaline rushed through her and she patted the grass beside her in an invitation before she could second-guess herself. Klaus grinned widened and he moved onto the ground beside her, mirroring her own position on the grass and lying on his back, staring at up at the night sky.
"So, you what… ditched your mother's ball?" Caroline asked, curiously. "Won't she get angry?"
Klaus raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her. "Do I look like I'm the age to be afraid of my mother, Caroline?" He asked, teasingly.
"Well, no," Caroline said, grudgingly. "But your mom seems pretty overbearing. And wasn't the ball some kind of show to say that you're all one, big, happy Brady Bunch family?" She asked, her brow furrowing.
"I trust my mother as much as I trust anyone else, Caroline," Klaus said, grimly. "And that is not very much. She has many reasons why she wanted to throw the ball and making us believe she wanted to be a family again, but I do not believe that renewing family bonds was one of them."
Caroline yawned. "So, why don't you just shove her into a box again?" Klaus looked surprised. "What? You thought I didn't know? Elena told me everything. You have serious issues with your family, you know that." She wagged her finger. "You should probably go and see a therapist about them."
"Nevertheless, I cannot make a move against my mother without any proof of her treachery. Unfortunately, my siblings, with the exception of Elijah, are all too quick to believe in my mother's ruse, especially Rebekah. If she is truly not as interested in reconciliation as she claims to be, I will have to tread carefully. She is still quite the powerful witch and a formidable enemy," he explained.
"Wow." Caroline shook her head. "And I thought my family drama was bad. The most my mom and I used to fight about when I was human was my underage drinking."
"And when you were turned?" Klaus asked, interestedly. "Was she accepting of it?"
Caroline snorted. "God, no." She shook her head. "She said I wasn't her daughter anymore. And she was plotting to kill me," she murmured, a pang of pain settling in her heart. She cleared her throat. "But we worked things out and our relationship is stronger than ever," she said, proudly.
"And your father?" Klaus phrased it as a question, but his firm tone told Caroline that he was expecting an answer.
Caroline couldn't figure out for the life of her why he was so interested in her life.
Caroline shrugged. "He divorced my mom when I was ten and he moved out to live with his boyfriend in Georgia."
"Boyfriend?" Klaus' brow furrowed, confused.
Caroline nodded. "My dad was gay. Anyway, we didn't really see each other all that much after that. Sometimes, I'd spend the summer with him and his partner, Steven. But, we never really talked much or spent a lot of time together." She shrugged. "And then he came back when he found out I was a vampire and went all psycho dad on me."
"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, carefully.
"Well, he tried to 'condition' the vampire out of me," Caroline explained, thickly, as emotion swelled inside of her.
"'Condition'? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Klaus asked, his voice sharp with fury.
"He tortured me until he felt that I was 'fixed', so that I wouldn't react to blood," Caroline said, hoarsely, turning her head so that she was staring up at the sky. "And then he got hurt and he needed vampire blood and he was murdered with it still in his system. And he refused to transition because he'd have rather died than be like me," she bit out.
She couldn't look at him. Not when all of this spilled from her mouth.
Shame churned in her stomach.
Klaus couldn't help the unadulterated rage that swept over him at the forlorn look on her face. He was suddenly reminded of his weaker, human self, pathetic in the face of a father who was always much stronger than him, who had no qualms about exerting his power over him, all because he seemed to hate the sight and thought of him – even when he thought Klaus was his own flesh and blood. Seeing this girl, a girl who had yet to even reach twenty years of age, so broken and defeated from horrors she had no place enduring or even witnessing, left his vision spotted with red.
He had the sudden urge to slice open Bill Forbes from belly to throat, dig his hand up to his wrists into warm, wet flesh and bone and blood, and pull out each organ, one by one, all the while keeping the man alive and on the constant edge of agony.
If only the man were alive today.
But he doubted Caroline would want to hear his vengeful thoughts the day after her father's death.
With every word Caroline spoke, he was left more and more awestruck and rattled. He couldn't believe he misjudged her so greatly. At first sight, he thought of her no more as some child who managed to walk into danger so thoroughly she was left a vampire as a result. A girl with no more brains than any other empty-headed cheerleader. From what his sister had told her, he believed her to be exactly the same as his sister and every other woman he came across – shallow, empty-headed and superficial.
When Stefan first stole his coffins, he turned to the entire Mystic Falls gang to find his perfect leverage against his wayward best friend. And he found Caroline. She was the perfect mark for him. Blonde cheerleader with his first hybrid as a boyfriend, his doppelganger as a best friend and the man he had once thought of as a brother as a vampire mentor. She possessed connections in spades. She was the Bennett witch's best friend and the other Salvatore brother sired her.
He ordered Tyler to bite her to show Stefan what he was capable of, to what lengths he would go to end up unscathed. She was nothing more than collateral damage at that time. And he had asked her to the ball in the intention of proving to Tyler and the rest of the Mystic Falls gang how he managed to survive a thousand years on this Earth. They were children compared to him and it was time they understood that if they tried to cross him, they were the ones who would end up hurt.
And Caroline had been the perfect victim.
He had planned to woo her for a little while, charm her enough that she was open to him, looked at him with stars in her eyes. Perhaps take advantage of everything she offered him. He had to admit, she would look stunning, naked and flushed, moaning and writhing in his bed. And if any of her friends had found out that one of their nearest and dearest was fucking the Big Bad Hybrid behind their backs, well, it would have thrown enough dissent into their group that he could've easily taken them all apart, one by one.
But now, every inch of him was rebelling with his earlier intention for Caroline's fate. Her defiance and beaten spirit endeared her to him. His heart raced when he was near her and he felt himself smiling around her more than he had in so many centuries. She made him feel like that human boy he was such a long time ago, ready and eager to face the world with everything he had. The thought of using her in such a way now left a bitter taste in his mouth. It made him sick to his stomach to think that he could hurt her in the same way her father had done.
He ran his tongue over his lips and cleared his throat.
But he couldn't take the risk that feelings for her would bring. The way his heart skipped a beat to her sweet smile. He was approaching dangerous territory. Territory he always belittled others for. Territory he couldn't have for himself. That part of him died on a blood-smeared floor in a ragged hut a thousand years ago.
Caroline Forbes was nothing but a liability.
"You want a drink?" Caroline offered, hesitantly.
Klaus smiled, gently, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her, his tousled blonde curls and boyish grin making her stomach flutter in anticipation. "Hmm, are you sure you want to share a drink with me? After all, I am the enemy, love" he said, teasingly.
"Well, I'm already committing treason." Her smile grew, reluctantly. "Might as well have fun with it." She said, dryly.
"Well, then, I might as well take you up on your offer," Klaus said, pleasantly.
Caroline handed him the bottle of vodka and he took a long gulp from the bottle, leaving only a quarter of the vodka left.
"So," Klaus drawled, licking off his lips the vodka that remained there. "Where is my hybrid tonight, if not helping you cope with your grief?"
"He's not your hybrid," Caroline shot back.
"Is he yours, then?" Klaus smiled, teasingly. "I thought you two broke up," he said, curiously.
"Yeah, because of you and your freaky sire bond with him," Caroline grumbled. She hesitated, something nagging at her thoughts, forcing her mouth open. "What if there was a way to break the sire bond?"
Klaus' brow furrowed. "There isn't..." He trailed off. His eyes hardened, narrowing at her. "Unless you know differently," he said, coldly, thinly-veiled suspicion colouring his voice.
"Hypothetically," she stressed. "What if there was a way to break the sire bond?" She asked, gently.
Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Well, then, love, I'd simply kill them all. After all, what use could I possibly have for hybrids who don't feel the incessant urge to do what I say?" He said, grimly.
Caroline swallowed hard, shaken by the darkness that loomed in his cornflower blue eyes. Where she should and used to feel disgust sliding under her skin, she only found a strange sort of curiosity into how his mind worked. What could have made this man so jaded that he would rather commit a mass murder than endure the possibility of betrayal and treachery?
"Forced servitude tends to come back and bite people in the ass. Just look at history," Caroline said, pointedly.
A part of her didn't fault him for his lack of concern for life – be it human, vampire or hybrid. After a thousand years, she could see how those lessons of right and wrong taught at your parents' knees would fade away. She wondered if she would end up that ruthless and unforgiving if she lived to be his age. It would be easy. To let go of the morals that still bound her to the shallow, naive blonde cheerleader who died in a hospital bed and embrace the monster that she tried so hard to forget roared in her belly.
Klaus clenched his fists, wondering why he was allowing a slip of a girl to offer her opinion on matters beyond her comprehension.
Although, he wouldn't dare admit it, a grudging part of him could actually understand what she was trying to say.
Nevertheless, if he allowed this freedom, he couldn't take the chance she would use his passivity against him in the future
"Perhaps we should talk about something else," Klaus' voice was deadly, his teeth gritting together in the beginnings of a snarl.
"You know, your bipolar-ness is really giving me whiplash," Caroline complained.
Klaus couldn't help but chuckle at the slight whine in her voice. "Very well, then. Perhaps we could move onto more well-mannered subjects. Subjects that are not as likely to result in both of us being at each other's throats," he offered.
Caroline patted his hand in agreement and her head swayed against the grass, close enough for him to catch the scent of lilacs and sunshine in her hair, and he was instantly enthralled.
"So, I have a question." Caroline took a long swig of the vodka clutched in her hand, knowing that the rush of warmth that and the echoing wooziness from the alcohol were the only way to spit out the words stuck in her throat. "Why did you invite me to your ball?"
"I fancy you." Klaus said, simply, watching her with careful eyes, allowing himself to confide that one, honest thought.
He did fancy her. More than she realised.
Caroline laughed, loudly, right in his face, her snickers smacking him with intensity, throwing her head back and letting her giggles rush into the night. When she saw his slightly irritated look, she covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes going wide, snickering still seeping out from between her parted fingers.
"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." Caroline said, her giggling hardly stopping. "Here you are, being all serious or charming or seductive or whatever, and here I am, laughing in your face. I bet you've never had a girl react like that before. It must be seriously ego-damaging for you." She patted him on the hand, condescendingly.
"I do fancy you," Klaus said, firmly.
Caroline snorted. "Yeah, right," she scoffed.
"But, I do," he said, insistently. "And why wouldn't I? You're-you're beautiful, you're strong. You're full of light," he said, pointedly. "I enjoy you." He shrugged.
Caroline raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I'm sitting here in the dead of night, in the middle of a deserted park, getting drunk of cheap, supermarket vodka, instead of wearing a pretty dress and jewellery and going to a Cinderella ball. Exactly what about that screams 'strong' and 'full of light' to you?" She asked, incredulously.
Klaus smirked. "I noticed you didn't argue the 'you're beautiful' bit."
Caroline scoffed, "I know I'm hot, Klaus. I'm insecure, not blind."
"Then why not believe me?" Klaus asked, curiously.
"Because it's you," Caroline shot back. "The evil, insane, megalomaniac hybrid jackass who ruined our lives. You were going to sacrifice me a few months ago. I'm supposed to believe that you fancy me now after two interactions?"
"To be fair, I hadn't met you back then," Klaus said, pointedly. "I'm sure that if I had, I would've changed my mind and chosen another vampire for my sacrifice. And two, despite my actions towards your friends, I have never directly hurt you."
"You made Tyler bite me," Caroline said, accusingly.
"That was nothing personal, love," Klaus said, grimly. "Unfortunately, you got caught in the crossfire and I do apologise for that. And if anything, you should blame your friend, Stefan. If he hadn't been on his silly revenge trip, you would never have gotten hurt. I'm not in the habit of needlessly killing people, Caroline. Especially women as beautiful as you," he said, gently. "I am ruthless and I am a murderer. I will not deny those things because you and I both would know that I was lying. But I don't take some sick pleasure in murder like you believe me to." He shook his head. "Stefan stole my family. He blackmailed me. Did you really expect me not to react to that?" He asked, curiously.
"Two wrongs don't make a right," Caroline argued.
"Yes, but when you live to be a thousand years in a world where everyone is against you – even your own family – you need to be ruthless. You have to show your enemies that you are not weak, that you will not stand by and wait for them to drive the stake into your heart. You have to fight back when backed into a corner, to defend what you care about. You strike them down when they act against you, make such an example such that no one else would dare defy you ever again. When you have lived as long as I have, your textbook morality will fade away until your baser instincts are at the front of your mind. Wouldn't you kill to protect your mother? No matter whom it may be?" He asked, pointedly, his blue eyes boring a hole into her soul and conscience.
"I would." Caroline admitted, grudgingly.
"Everything I do has a purpose behind it. I killed Elena to become a hybrid. I needed to become a hybrid to defeat my father otherwise he would have hunted my siblings and I to our deaths. I apologise if my actions hurt you, but I cannot bring myself to regret them when my father – the man who has destroyed any peace in my life for a thousand years – is finally ash burnt into the ground in front of the Lockwood mansion," he said, firmly. "Now, tell me, are there any other objections?"
"Look," Caroline sighed, unable to argue his point. "You say you fancy me. But you don't even know me." Her gaze turned sharp. "If this really isn't some freaky, insane, twisted plot to seduce me and make me another notch on your probably ginormous bedpost in order to get back at my friends for screwing with you – which, by the way, would be so, so, so fucking wrong and sick and awful and indecent and another couple hundred negative adjectives that I can't think of right now because I'm like really drunk. That would essentially make me think of you as the most evil, immoral motherfucker on the face of the planet – and if you want to keep this strange crush thing going on, if you actually want it to seem somewhat believable, something that I might actually take seriously sometime in the future – no promises, of course – you might want to get to know something about me that isn't in the public domain. Knowing that I'm Miss Mystic Falls and my dad died last night just isn't gonna cut it," she slurred. "You need more info if you actually want me to think of you as more than a sub-par inhuman being."
With that, Caroline snatched up her empty bottle and jumped to her feet, with a great deal of grace for someone who had drunk almost one bottle of sheer vodka with him and most likely more before he arrived. She stalked away from him, her short skirt swishing about her thighs and the moonlight drawing attention to the smooth, porcelain skin that Klaus couldn't help but appreciate for a second, before her last words echoed through him.
"Dinner. Tomorrow night?" Klaus called out from behind her.
Caroline smiled and Klaus could tell she secretly enjoyed his persistence, which suited him, because he had no intention of giving up now – now that he had only started to crack open her skull and discover what lay in that pretty little head.
"Fair warning, this might be the alcohol talking." Klaus could hear the laughter in Caroline's voice and knew her answer would be the same tomorrow. "But, what the hell. It's a date."
Klaus was reluctant to stop the boyish grin from flitting across his face, surprised at one of the first genuine rushes of warmth and happiness in his insides in a thousand years.
"Goodnight, Caroline," Klaus couldn't help but say, sneakily.
Caroline chuckled, clutching the cool bottle close to her chest. "G'night, Klaus."